Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares battled hard to reach their second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final of the season (also Indian Wells) on Friday at the Western & Southern Open. The third seeds knocked out last year’s finalist Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.
Murray and Soares saved three set points from 3/6 in the first set tie-break, then broke at 4-4 in the second set prior to convert their third match point opportunity. Murray and Soares, with a 3-1 record in ATP World Tour finals this year (6-3 overall), have yet to win a Masters 1000 crown as a team.
They will next meet second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who defeated Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-7. The Polish-Brazilian duo needed one hour and 36 minutes to secure their spot in the last four, as they continue their quest for a third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown of the year (Miami, Madrid). In 2016, Dodig and Melo teamed up to lift the trophy in Cincinnati.
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In other action, top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers were upset by Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus 7-6(4), 4-6, 12-10. Roland Garros champions Harrison and Venus have continued their strong run as a team in reaching the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time. They saved one match point, at 9/8 in the Match Tie-break, in beating Kontinen and Peers after one hour and 33 minutes. The American-Kiwi duo will face fifth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Saturday.
Big win for @nmahut & @p2hugz taking out the Bryan Brothers in front of a home crowd.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/akn2OvrIKs
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 19, 2017
Herbert and Mahut continued their quest to claim back-to-back titles in Montreal and Cincinnati with a 4-6, 7-5, 10-8 comeback victory over five-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. The Frenchmen are in the midst of a dominant stretch, riding a six-match win streak into Saturday's showdown against Harrison and Venus.
